Ross, we figured out how to combat that greed factor. We fed the cow first, and when she was done, we milked. This has worked well for our cow and we will always train them to be this way. We found that as much as they associate chop with milking time, they won't have a fit if they don't get more.

I remember that when I was growing up, we had one cow that would demand, and demand, hold back milk, kick and the whole shebang. She was good other than that. I learned to milk her quickly. It never took her long to eat her chop. What a big piggy she was!

Instead of hobbles, another trick that was used long ago (and some of my relatives still use it), is getting someone to crank the tail up around (not straight up) over the back as much as they can. Make sure that It takes a lot of effort (at least for me), but it works well. A few times of this, and she shouldn't kick anymore. They can't kick while this is going on, and figure out that it just isn't worth fighting it after a while.

Yes, petting is good too. I have read that it makes them happier, more relaxed, and they will give more milk. I always said sweet things to the cows when milking them….except when they were bad…then they knew…like stepping on my foot. OUCH!

Often the cow has a preference in who does the milking by hand. I imagine this would be no different for who puts on a machine. My aunt says that most cows prefer women, but I find that they like to get used to their one person, maybe two. Often, they will moo softly at the milker as if it were their calf. I have had this happen, and my husband gets sweet nothings mooed at him when he goes to milk our cow. lol It might be that there are too many "calves" to feed and you are all driving her crazy! That is what my kids do to me somedays, so I imagine it would not be too different for her. lol

When I had a kicker, I put the machine on and talked to her nicely and when she kicked I put my hand up and stopped her. I always told her DON'T KICK. She got better and mostly stopped. I say mostly because I got her because she had a dislocated hoof on her back right side.  got her from a local dairy who didn't want to work with her while she healed. She was a "Very Good Jersey Cow"!